Practically An Avenger and XoA - glad you enjoyed that last chapter! Let's keep rolling, eh?

Chapter 68- Meanwhile, Across The River ...

"Do you realize," Craig said after a long and successful session with Scott, "that when we talk about your life and what you do in your spare time, all you talk about is your nearly grown children?"

Scott blinked at him, clearly not expecting the conversation to go in that direction. He'd thought they were simply winding down their session by talking about something a little less shocking than the truth of what the X-Men had been through. Working through the details of that was still hard, and he still hadn't come around to talking about what had happened with the professor and with Logan in that room - though he was willing to talk to Craig about who Charles and Logan were before they died and why they had been so important in his life.

So yeah, he'd been happy to talk about his kids. Who wouldn't be?

"They keep me busy," Scott said, shrugging. "They're amazing kids. The X-Men, the Avengers, James' position in SI, Nate's games…"

"I don't mean that you're simply being proud of them," Craig clarified. "I am genuinely interested in what you do for yourself."

Scott frowned, blinked, and rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, I… I've been so busy… Keeping them safe has always been a full-time job. Searching for threats, keeping an ear to the ground, going to after-school things - being a single father isn't easy, you know. And there have always been weapons groups coming after my kids, since they were young."

"Again, I wasn't asking what you've done for those kids. And I wasn't downplaying it, either. You've done an amazing thing looking out for them all this time, knowing what you did about the dangers facing them. But what do you do?"

Scott opened his mouth once, then twice to answer Craig, but he found he couldn't actually answer the question. He hadn't even considered anything but keeping his kids safe in so long… the last time he'd really done something for himself had been when he and Jan had been dating.

Craig leaned back and let Scott flounder in his own lack of an answer for a long while before he finally spoke again. "So you can see my dilemma, can't you?" Craig said quietly. "I'm trying to give you the tools to live your life, but you can't conceive of a life outside of your children - who are grown and about to leave you with an empty nest."

"It's not like they'll be far-"

"Scott." Craig let out a heavy sigh and shook his head. "That's not the point."

Scott shook his head. "Craig, I'll still be looking out for them even when they're grown. That's what I did with the X-Men. That's what we always did."

"So you're planning to return to the X-Men?"

"What? No."

"I asked you what you do for yourself, and you talked about the X-Men."

"I was just trying to explain-" Scott pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. "I've been an X-Man since I was sixteen, Craig. I'm not on the team, but as a friend of mine recently reminded me, that doesn't mean I ever stopped believing in Professor Xavier's dream. My years on that team defined me. So yes, I brought them up to explain why I'll always be looking out for my family, no matter where they are. We had each other's backs even when we were all grown and married, too."

Craig smiled lightly. "It's always nice to hear you talk about your old team," he said. "I can tell they meant the world to you. And the public didn't get to hear any of this."

"No, they didn't," Scott said, leaning back. The loss of his team weighed on him heavily still, even in therapy. There was so much he had to explain to Craig just to build up the foundation of knowledge of what the team had been before he could even begin to think Craig would understand what the team had been - and what he had lost. The team had died in secrecy while they were still branded terrorists by the government. No one knew them like Scott knew them.

Craig allowed Scott to sit in his thoughts again while he considered how best to explain his own point. Then, he leaned forward, his hands clasped in front of him. "My problem," he said at last, "is that you've built an identity for yourself with an expiration date. And it's hard for me to give you the tools to stay in this world when the moment Nate graduates, you will have lost your purpose and your identity. You'll be there for them if they need you, of course, but who is Scott when he's alone? You don't even know."

When Scott was shocked into silence, Craig continued, "You told me that you promised James you wouldn't follow Logan's path, but the problem is you've been working toward an end date since the day you lost your wife. The only reason you've been able to function without addressing the trauma and loss you went through has been your self-appointed mission to keep them safe." He held up one hand. "I'm not saying it wasn't a necessary calling. Lord knows those kids needed someone who knew what they'd be facing, and you couldn't have asked the Avengers to look after them, not when they didn't live through the anti-mutant fervor you did. I understand your choice. But you made it your only purpose in life, and the closer Nate gets to graduating, the closer you edge to feeling like you're finished." Craig leaned back again. "Please, tell me I'm wrong. I don't like to think any patient of mine believes he has an expiration date."

Scott stared at Craig, unconsciously shaking his head. "I don't… That isn't…"

"Scott, that's exactly what your problem is. I don't care what promise you gave to James; you can't live a life without a purpose, and you can't enjoy a life without an identity."

Scott shook his head. "I… do things," he said, though even to his own ears, the excuse sounded powerless. "I have coffee with my friend Toby. And I see my brother and his family more often now that Genosha isn't completely cut off with Wanda at the helm."

"That's a start," Craig said, then got to his feet, signalling to Scott that their session was coming to an end. "But Scott, I need you to decide who you are outside of your obligations, outside of your relationships. My worry is that you've defined yourself and your whole life by your family - whether they be the X-Men, your children, or your blood family - and you're completely unprepared to be alone." He sighed. "I'm not saying you shouldn't be with your family. In fact, it's healthy for you to spend more time with them. But please, find something you enjoy. Take a knitting class. Play a damn video game. Take that teaching job Ororo offered you at the school. Because you're never going to dig yourself out of this hole until you can be a whole person regardless of how old your children are."

Scott shook his head even as he shook Craig's hand. "Right. Well. I'll see you tomorrow, then."

Craig smirked. "It's alright Scott. I'm your therapist. I'm not doing my job right if I'm not making you face uncomfortable things."

"Uh-huh." Scott shook his head again. "See you tomorrow," he repeated, still quiet as he slipped out of the room to where Hank was waiting in the lobby, his head in a good book, as always.

Hank looked up as Scott put his hands in his back pockets and led the way out. "Ah. I take it things went well?" he said mildly.

Scott shot him a dry look. "It's fine, Hank."

"Of course it is," Hank said in a rich, deep tone. "When is it not? It's been 'fine' since the day I met you … that was a charming evening, if I recall ..."

Scott couldn't help but smirk Hank's way. "That's not the word I'd use."

"Balderdash," Hank chuckled. "It is exactly the word you use. It was only a self proclaimed villain trying to steal nuclear secrets. What's not fine about that, my dear friend?"

"We were fine after the fact," Scott defended, rubbing the back of his neck, though his smirk had turned into a smile.

"Exactly my point," Hank said, grinning wider.

"Then yeah, I'm fine," Scott said as they headed out together bound for Westchster.

It was a Friday night, which meant Kate insisted on taking Nate somewhere fun, all but pushing him into her car (not that he was trying that hard to stop her) and informing him that they were going for a night on the town. The whole Summers family was still getting used to the new normal, so Kate wanted to get out. Go have some Korean - that always reminded her of when she was tiny and Tony took her to get Korean food when she was still small enough to feel overwhelmed by the sudden change in her life. To Kate, going out for Korean was a kind of security blanket, and she was extending that to Nate, too.

Outwardly, he seemed like he was doing better than the others in his family, but Kate was in his head too often to believe he wasn't tense as one of her bow strings, so she was sure this was the remedy.

And as it turned out, it was. By the time they were done and looking for a place for dessert - trying to decide whether to go totally the opposite way from dinner and go super-sugary-American or stick with the international theme - they were completely relaxed, engrossed in each other, and being teenagers. Normal teenagers.

Well, except for the part where their makeout sessions were telepathic.

Mostly telepathic.

They were starting to progress in their levels of PDA when they finally decided on a frozen yogurt place. Neither of them cared much about the dirty looks a few of the patrons were giving them over the fact that Nate's hand was on Kate's back under her shirt or that they were giggling, stealing kisses, and sharing looks that read all kinds of trouble. They didn't plan to stay any longer than the time it took to get dessert and take it on the road.

Kate was perfectly pleased with herself, too. Nate kept leaning over for more kisses, and she had purposefully gotten plenty of frozen yogurt and lots of toppings. And she was eating. Every. One. Individually. Just for the look on his face.

Finally, Nate was done waiting for her and simply grabbed her yogurt cup and took off running. She had been expecting him to break and pull something, but she hadn't expected the grab and dash, and she let out a laugh before she ran out the door after him, giggling madly and knowing he was going to kiss the sense out of her once she caught up.

She got out the door just in time to see him turn the corner - she was sure he did that on purpose - and took off running. She was just so glad to see him loosening up and grinning that it hadn't even occurred to her that they were both far too distracted in a public place - up until she turned the corner and ran nearly right into a green-clad man's chest.

All at once, it was like a switch flipped, and everything her parents had taught her clicked in, starting with a knee to the guy's groin and a spinning kick when another one tried to circle around her. Someone grabbed her around the waist, and she flung herself backward in a bend her dad would have been proud of, until her hands touched the ground and she could use her weight to kick up, once again dislodging his grip. It was immediately obvious who had trained her - but that just made them more determined to get their hands on her.

She absolutely would have gotten away from them, too, if a side door in the alley - an employee exit from a nearby restaurant - hadn't opened at exactly the wrong moment. Some poor kid taking out the trash had stumbled his way into a Hydra fight, and when Kate had to switch focus to push him back inside so he didn't get caught up as a human shield or worse, that was enough of a distraction for someone to get a gun in her face.

Up ahead, Nate was still smiling, ready to scoop her up as soon as she caught up, but when she wasn't on his heels like always, he let out a noise from the back of his throat. "Come on, Katie. It's time to get going. Really." But still, even after a minute or two, not only had she not shown yet, but it was oddly quiet for the city, too. His smile began to slip and he started to walk back the way he'd come, half expecting her to jump out of some alleyway to try and scare the crap out of him - it had happened once or twice.

The further Nate went back the way he'd come, the more convinced he was that she was either really screwing with him … or something was off, and considering how life had been lately - and knowing that they'd ticked off Hydra in their last big mission, Nate decided to play it safe … just to see. The worst that could happen if she was safe would be her accusing him of being in a rush … which … who wouldn't be?

Nate found a dark alley to get out of sight from passer by's and then took a slow breath to center himself before he started searching the area … glossing over busy minds that hadn't seen Kate or himself … nothing seemed too out of place. Until he found the first Hydra soldier … and the second … third … He looked up, his eyes glowing as he realized this was really not okay. But instead of taking the time to hit his emergency button, he started running toward the mental signatures, then reached out for Kate. Where are you? Can you see anything? Because there are like four vans here and I don't want to wreck the wrong one.

Oh, hey, sexy. Um, no, can't see which van, sorry. There's a guy in here with a limp and one who's bleeding, though. Does that help? Kate offered. Recognize their voices.

Okay. Tell me when yours moves, then, Nate projected out before he picked up a Hydra goon telekinetically and threw him into the first van. An engine started up, and then, just because that had ticked Nate off, he tore the wheels off all of them before he'd turned the corner to get closer. This was the kind of thing that Natasha and his Dad had warned about … so, Nate reasoned, subtlety was out the window.

On seeing the wheels fly, a whole lot more Hydra guys started trying to circle around the vans - and Nate was no longer even entertaining anything but finishing the job and moving on, so as they raised their weapons his way, he froze everyone around him for a three block radius and started reading their minds beyond the immediate 'kill the mutant'. As soon as he saw what they were planning - and what some of them had been daydreaming … that was it. He lost his temper spectacularly and every Hydra agent around him and Kate simply crumpled before he ripped the doors off the vans - and let Kate out of the mental paralysis.

"Sorry. It was kind of a blanket thing to stop them."

Kate smiled tightly as she sat up and looked around. "I missed the epic fight?"

"There was no epic fight," he said.

Kate frowned and looked around, suddenly realizing that there were no signs of struggle…. "You shut them down?" she asked as she crouched down by one, took his knife from his side, and handed it to Nate to cut her loose.

"I froze them first," Nate said as he cut the ropes off. "I was just going to get you out and let them try to figure out where you went … until I read their minds and maybe lost my temper a little bit. No one got hurt that wasn't Hydra and we can still walk out of here before I un-freeze everyone."

Kate shook her head. "You know, sometimes I forget how powerful you are," she said softly. "It's pretty hot, you know that?"

"Is that why you were more interested in ice cream than stealing kisses?"

She let out a soft laugh. "I like making you suffer?" she offered.

"Fine by me," he said, smiling crookedly. "Ready to go? Or did you want a trophy?"

"Nah, I'm okay. I've been getting jumped by Hydra since I was four and they realized Tony was my godfather. Mom and Dad were a little better at hiding it than he was."

"Yeah, I know, but now I'm going to have to keep an ear open for these morons." He kicked one of them with the tip of his shoe. "Well … not these particular morons. You get the point."

Kate's smile widened, and she stood on her toes to kiss his cheek. "It's really hot when you lose your temper and get all territorial, you know that, right?"

"Um … I do now?"

"Well it's amazing. Totally unnecessary, but sexy," she teased.

Nate's smile lost some of it's teasing quality. "I respectfully disagree," he said slowly. "And I maintain that I held back."

"Oh, I know you could have lobotomized every one of those guys in a blink," Kate promised. "And you could have done it while flying us home and shielding us from anyone even noticing your dramatic rescue. You hold back all the time, babe."

And I would really really like to go somewhere away from these losers before I reconsider.

You're really bothered, Kate said, genuinely surprised - because she was so used to Hydra being a problem it didn't feel important enough to get Nate this bothered.

Yeah, I am, Nate admitted. Because I read their minds and it pissed me off.

Kate slipped her arms around his shoulders and kissed him. It's fine. Mom would've strung them up by their jewels the second she heard what happened. The last guys that tried to kidnap me? Dad tied them up with Christmas-themed bows and gave them to Barney for target practice.

Your mom would have killed them. Nate gave her a raised eyebrow look. So would your Dad, and so would my siblings.

Kate frowned and pulled back to look Nate in the face. … oh. But… really? It's usually… I mean… oh….

Yeah. Oh. He took just a moment to kiss her forehead. "Let's go, please. I'll sleep on your parent's couch so you don't have to drive back in the dark alone. Dad will be fine with it."

"Uh-huh." Kate nodded lightly and hooked her arms around Nate's neck again, still thrown off by the experience. She didn't know why. It wasn't like she didn't know men could be creeps and hadn't dealt with problems like that in her life. It was just that Hydra had always been… Hydra. They were after her parents and she was bait and that was how it went. Even when she was an Avenger, she was a way to get to Tony or Clint or Steve or Nat - usually Nat or Steve, really.

When she seemed like she was still shell-shocked, Nate let out a patient sigh to catch her attention before he scooped her up to carry her out. "Kinda quiet, Hawkeye," he said into her hair. "Your parents are going to think I did something horrible to traumatize you … unless that qualifies as horrible."

She shook her head quickly. "No, you were dashing and sexy as always," she promised. "Just mentally recalibrating my completely rational hatred of Hydra to include more visceral swear words."

"Please don't take this as a defense of them, but it was individuals thinking that way. I didn't want to mess around though. I don't think the higher ups would care."

"No, they wouldn't. I just…" She let out a strange-sounding laugh. "Okay, this is gonna sound weird, but like… the Hydra goons have always seen me as a kid so like… it's almost like a weird acknowledgement I'm not?"

"Katie. You know you're amazing and beautiful. You've seen yourself, right?"

I do own a mirror, yeah, she teased him lightly. Not what I meant.

I know. Just trying to ease you out of your head. A little.

You know the funny part is I think if it was Strucker he might even have been mad about it cuz he likes to have all the cards, and he'd be pissed if he contacted my mom and I was already in a fit state. Which is now a thought that I have in my head.

You are not making it any easier not to lobotomize them. I don't need to be an Avenger … and … from what I've read, X-Men … slip. From time to time.

Awww, there's the possessive - I mean protective - streak I love so much, she teased.

So are you looking for the puffed up proud or the 'aww, shucks, just doin' my job, ma'am'?

Only if you do it in a bad accent, she teased. Out loud.

Is there any other way? Nate asked before he did, in fact put on the very thickest, worst faux Southern accent he could manage as he repeated it.

Kate burst into laughter and pulled him into a long, lingering kiss. "Okay, take me home, Andy Griffith."

"I was shooting more for John Wayne? But I'll take it."

"Barney Fife?"

"Not on your life."

"I mean, compared to your brother-" she started to say just because she knew it was a button to push.

"Oh, come on."

"Traumatizing fair play?" she offered, fluttering her eyelashes innocently. "C'mon, sweetheart."

"Hey, if it's got you joking around? I'm all for it."

"Aww, love you too," she said and kissed him again, then let her shoulders drop. "Okay, let's go let my parents know Hydra wanted their attention."

"Nice and easy or should I just … project it all to them at once?" Nate asked with a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.

"Um, Dad's trying to talk Mom into another baby, so let's not give them heart attacks, please?"

"Okay, fine. Am I driving or are you? I'll just … let Dad know what the plan is. You know, because he doesn't need a heart attack either. He's delicate you know."

"I'll drive, since you're reaching out to everyone, and you might need to concentrate if you're preventing heart attacks," she teased. And then, just to get back to the good mood they were in, once they got to the car, she took her hair down, leaned over, and kissed the sense out of him first. "Okay, now we can go."

"Hi, Mom, I'm home," Kate called out when they got into the apartment. She tossed her keys on the table near the door as Nate closed the door behind them. "So … some things happened, and we are harboring a Summers tonight … unless you really, really want him to go home - but I don't think you'll mind when you hear what happened."

"Does it have anything to do with the platoon full of Hydra operatives that SHIELD found in the park twenty minutes ago?" Natasha asked, one eyebrow raised.

"Um … yes," Nate said.

"I'm listening," Natasha replied, crossing her arms over her chest. Of course she knew about the attack. Of course she knew they were involved … what she didn't know was what it was that the operatives had done to incite that kind of a response from Nate. But considering the players, Natasha had a few educated guesses. She just wanted to know what exactly she was going to end up doing with the men that had been arrested by SHIELD.

"It's okay, Mom. Nate handled it with exactly the level of oomph called for, I promise," Kate said, her fingers laced tightly through Nate's. "Attempted Hydra grab. Nate got me out, and I'm absolutely in need of snuggles to get past the creeps."

"You don't really think that is enough of an explanation, do you?" Natasha asked, one hand on her hip. "Because I thought you'd know better than that, Katherine Barton."

"I'd rather not repeat it, honestly," Nate said, and when Natasha raised an eyebrow his way, he continued. "I can project to you what happened, though, if you want to see it."

"Please," Natasha said before she headed over to sit on the couch so Nate could get to work.

He let out a breath and centered himself before his eyes began to glow, and he pulled Natasha into his mindscape to show her what had happened from the moment he'd realized that Kate wasn't with him. He didn't hold back on any of it, not bothering to filter his gut reaction to all of it as it went down, up to and including Kate's reaction when she realized what Nate had done. He did, however, stop short of showing her the quick makeout session just afterward.

"I purposely kept them down until SHIELD could pick them all up," Nate told Natasha. "All of them - including the ones that weren't in the immediate area. For those that were further out, I suggested to a few SHIELD agents where they might want to look for them."

Natasha considered him for a long moment, trying to decide who to hit first, even if she had a plan in place to interrogate those that were captured anyhow.

Nate looked between Natasha and Clint. "So … is it alright if I crash on the couch? I promise I won't do anything but sleep. I just didn't want her to drive home on her own, and I can totally just … text Billy for help or something."

Natasha and Clint shared a look that held an entire conversation that was borderline telepathic for how well in-sync they were. "Sorry, kiddo; you're gonna need to call your future brother-in-law to get you home. Rule is no sleepovers without supervision, and we're gonna be busy tonight."

"Okay, first of all … they're too young to be that serious, and second … no problem," Nate said. "I really just didn't want her driving alone if the Hydra morons were looking for her." He took his phone out with one hand as he watched the family interact, then after he sent his text, he looked over at Kate. "I'm very sure your phone is about to get lit up with a jillion texts assuming the worst."

"Yeah, America is probably gonna come over-"

"No sleepovers," Clint put in, and Kate stuck her tongue out at him.

"What about Billy?" Nate suggested. "No danger there and he'd nuke anyone that screwed with her."

"Hey, look at that," Clint said, shouldering Nat. "Cramping everyone's style but ours."

"That is not what I was getting at," Nate said dryly.

"Uh-huh. I also have an older brother."

"Is he more or less reliable of a help than Billy?" Nate asked with a crooked smirk.

"Depends. Want someone dead…" Clint turned with his whole body toward Natasha. "Hey! Think Barney would want to kill some Hydra goons who tried to mess with his niece? He hasn't gotten out in a while."

"I nearly killed them," Nate said. "Sounds like a no-brainer for Uncle Barn."

"Perfect." Clint clapped his hands together. "Alright. Billy's babysitting and sending the boyfriend home, Nat and I are going on a date, and Bucky gets to lose to me in a shooting competition. Wins all around." He saluted Nate with two fingers, though Nate could hear the discord between his easy jokes and the fact that he was all but projecting murder over the whole thing.

Nate took a moment to give Kate a quick, chaste kiss just as Billy came in. "Sorry, beautiful. I know you don't need the backup for you, but you need the back up with the kids around."

"Yeah, I get it," Kate promised. "We'll pick up where we left off later."

"Yes. Absolutely." Nate turned to Billy with a smirk. "So. You get to zap me to Westchester … and stay here. Surprise!"

Billy blinked a few more times than necessary. "Wait. That wasn't the deal."

"Deal changed," Nate said easily. "Katie has Hydra creeps wanting to get in her pants, so …"

Billy spun toward Kate, who waved with the tips of her fingers. "Hi. I'd make a bad joke here, but my parents are already going to go break Avenger rules, so… hi, Billy."

"You're needed here to help," Nate said. "Pretty sure James won't mind - you know … except for the part where they're beating down creeps without him."

"Yeah…" Billy shook his head. "Alright. Hard to get mad when it's for a good reason. Sure you don't want me to wish them out of existence for you?" he offered, but Kate shook her head.

"I promise whatever my mom is going to do to them is a hundred times worse." She gestured toward Nat. "Besides, she needs to let off steam."

"And she's going to get the order of who's in charge of who, too," Nate added. "Can't do that if you just disintegrate them or whatever."

"But you're sweet to offer," Kate said, patting the seat beside her on the couch. "C'mon. Dog Cops marathon?"

Billy smiled and came to sit by her. "Hard to say no to that."